An airbrush is a tool that splashes paint in the form of mist by compressed air, and may simply perform an even painting operation which is not easily performed in a brush.
For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 , such an airbrush includes an airbrush body that is substantially formed in a pencil shape. The tip of the airbrush body is provided with a nozzle that sprays paint and air. A paint container is provided in the tipper portion of the airbrush body of the rear portion of the nozzle. Paint inside the paint container is led into the nozzle by the operation of an operation rod to be described later. The substantial center of the airbrush body is provided with an air supply hole that supplies compressed air and the operation rod that leads the compressed air supplied from the air supply hole to the outer periphery of the nozzle. A needle is provided inside an axial portion of the airbrush body so that the tip of the needle is biased so as to seal a paint spray hole of the nozzle. The sealing may be released when the needle retreats by the operation of the above-described operation rod.
In the airbrush with such a configuration, when the operation rod is pushed toward the airbrush body, the compressed air from the air supply hole is sprayed along the outer periphery of the nozzle. Further, when the operation rod moves backward, paint is sprayed through the paint spray hole of the nozzle of which the sealing by the needle is released.
Here, the sealing of the paint spray hole of the nozzle by the needle is performed by, for example, a valve structure in which the tip of the needle penetrates the paint spray hole of the nozzle so as to be freely extracted therefrom and inserted thereinto. When the tip of the nozzle through which the needle protrudes from the paint spray hole contacts a painting subject or the like, the needle is easily damaged, bent, or deformed, and hence a problem arises in the line thickness or the spraying direction of the paint. For this reason, the tip of the nozzle is provided with a needle cap that protects the needle.
[Patent Document 1] JP 2000-140719 A